Families to cover all school sports and activities costs

M. Renee Seymour/rseymour@cnc.com

Wednesday

May 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 30, 2007 at 11:30 AM

Families of student athletes as well as those who participate in extracurricular activities will be bearing the whole burden of the cost of these programs at Georgetown Middle High School come this fall. School Committee Chairman George Moker said the goal is to create a consistent fee structure for both activities and athletics, though how to do that has yet to be figured out.

Families of student athletes as well as those who participate in extracurricular activities will be bearing the whole burden of the cost of these programs at Georgetown Middle High School come this fall.

School Committee Chairman George Moker said the goal is to create a consistent fee structure for both activities and athletics, though how to do that has yet to be figured out.

At last week’s School Committee meeting, the discussion centered on how to distribute the close to $300,000 in athletic department funds — a plan needed by mid-summer. The committee ended the meeting still unclear as to how to proceed to help keep as many kids playing as possible.

After a presentation by Athletic Director Guy Prescott, the committee — which was slated to vote on a fee schedule that night — postponed its vote on the fee structure to allow more time to research the best way to break down the costs.

Of two options presented by Prescott, Prescott and Superintendent Larry Borin supported what they called the “same structure” payment plan, meaning each sport’s user fee simply increases by the same lump amount across every sport — that lump increase averaged about $143 per sport, based on estimates of participation.

But the problem with the “same structure” format is that players of each sport are all paying around the same fees, meaning families of students playing a “cheaper” sport are paying to subsidize those playing a more expensive sport.

Middle High School Principal Peter Lucia said he supports the same structure for activities fees, too.

Current user fees for sports are set at two rates: $370 for football, field hockey, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, wrestling and lacrosse; and $295 for cross country, middle school soccer, middle school track and cheering.

With the “same structure” increases, those paying $370 this year would pay $513, and those paying $295 would pay $438.

If the school department opts for the “pay by sport” model, fees will be determined by the number of students playing divided into the expense of the sport. This model is more fair, according to Moker, but much more unstable.

“As students do not participate, the fee will rise, causing further financial burden on a family, which could lead to more players dropping the sport and fees continuing to rise. This is a very unstable format, though it may be fairer,” said Moker.

In that format, based on early estimates, girls basketball, for instance, would cost $780, and football $574, but middle school track would be down to $133.

Lucia said he thinks this route would devastate the programs.

“We feel very strongly that it would be the destruction of our athletic program if you make the fee by sport,” said Lucia during the meeting.

Prescott agreed that he thought some sports — girls basketball, for example — would surely not continue if the pay-by-sport option were exercised.

School Committee member David Bjork moved to hold the vote until their July 12 meeting.

“I wanted to postpone the vote because I want our new superintendent to be part of the process of working on this difficult issue,” said Bjork after the meeting.

“With the failed override parents are now funding the entire athletic department budget with user fees. I’m concerned families will not be able to afford to have their kids participate in sports and activities, and I want parents to be part of the process as we determine the best way to structure user fees,” he said.

The grim reality of the costs brought some sarcasm out of committee members that night.

While Moker joked they’ll next have to start charging a baggage fee for book bags at the school, Bjork followed by saying they’ll also have to install a toll plaza at the end of Winter Street.

Either way, the problem with 100 percent student-funded athletic and activity programs is that the fee can’t be established until the number of participants is known.

Following last week’s meeting, Moker said, “This needs much more work, which is why we are waiting until July to have our [new] superintendent do adequate research and make a prudent recommendation.

“Parent participation in the process would be left up to the administration, although we believe parent participation across all sports and activities is a critical element for determining the most tolerable fee structure.”